Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says this figure are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and countless performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one misses a mark.
